The Road Safety Authority — or RSA, which is due to be split into two new agencies soon, following a Government report on its operations — has announced a lineup of price hikes for the services which it provides to Irish drivers.
New costs kick in on Jan 1st
The new costs will come into effect on 1 January 2025 and will see some quite significant rises in the cost of getting a driver’s licence and getting an NCT.
A full licence now costs €65
According to the RSA, the cost of applying for a full driver’s licence is going up by €10, from €55 to €65. At the same time, the cost of applying for a learner’s permit is rising by the same €10, and its price will go from €35 to €45.
The cost of a National Car Test, or NCT, is also going up. From January you’ll have to pay an extra €5 to get your car tested by the NCTS, with the price rising from €55 to €60. A retest — if your car has failed and you’ve had to have it repaired — will rise from €28 to €40, an increase of €12.
Van test now more expensive too
Finally, those looking to get their vans and other commercial vehicles through the Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Test will have to pay and extra 15 per cent, pre-VAT, for each booking.
While these are quite significant increases in costs, not least from an agency which has recently been harshly criticised by the Government and TDs for failing to improve safety on Irish roads, the RSA has justified the decision to raise its prices, saying: “As part of business planning for the coming year, including planned €18m expenditure on public interest activities and government priorities, there will be adjustments to fees for a number of RSA services. These will be the first changes to costs of services since 2012, and in some cases since 2011.”